$62 steak perfection: The candid review about restaurant that replaced Cha Cha Char

When renowned steak restaurant Cha Cha Char closed its doors in the CBD after more than 20 years, Fatcow Steak & Lobster took its place. So how does the food stack up?

Alison Walsh

@AlisonAWalsh

2 min read

March 11, 2021 - 2:00PM

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Steak is still protein-in-chief at the restaurant replacing Brisbane CBD bovine stalwart Cha Cha Char, which closed last year after more than two decades.

The reopened Eagle Street eatery, now Fatcow Steak & Lobster, has rejigged the premium beef playbook though, adding set menus, seafood platters and reasonably-priced main courses to its extensive steak offerings.

The beef palace is owned by restaurateur Michael Tassis, with business partner Ciao Rossetto. Tassis is taking over the restaurants of the CBD’s financial district epicentre, one cuisine at a time.

He started with George’s Paragon Seafood Restaurant, moved on to Rico Bar Dining and Massimo before Fatcow and is about to open Greek eatery Opa Bar and Mezza, on the site of now-defunct Jellyfish.

On a Thursday night the restaurant was pretty-well full and, judging by the tables around us, it was a mainly business clientele, more men than women, with a sprinkling of couples.

And right beside us at least, a group in suits is tucking into one of the set multiple-choice, three-course menus, which appear to be decent value for this part of town, priced from $50 to $95 per head.

The decor is plain but slickly work-man-like with leather chair and menu covers, the floor pebbled and a view through a curve of folding doors towards the river.

The main menu is a broad repertoire from entrees of oysters to black mussels, to beef tartare, Canadian scallops and garlic prawns, to shellfish platters, “large plates” of swordfish, wagyu ragu pappardelle, pork belly ($28 to $30), and rock lobster chilled or wood-fired ($75 half/$140 whole).

Ten cuts of beef from the wood-fire grill include a 500g northern NSW grain-fed rib on the bone for $62, just the ticket after a hard day of brutal accounting or lawyering, or a 1.2kg grain-fed T-bone from the Darling Downs.

Meaty topic: Steak at Fatcow Steak and Lobster in the CBD

Tortellini stuffed with prawn and lobster and nestling in a shallow puddle of thick bisque sauce ($16) is an introduction to at least part of the restaurant’s title, as is the lobster roll ($26). The pasta is a little stiff but the shellfish filling is a hit.

The roll that comes stuffed with a generous quantity of lobster is soft and fresh, without any particular textural charm or artisanal feel but, with lashings of rose sauce and shredded lettuce, it covers the bases.

On a roll: Lobster roll at Fatcow Steak & Lobster

The cheapest steak on the menu, the 200g pasture-fed eye fillet ($38) is very well cooked, flavourful, caramelised on the exterior, simply a great piece of meat.

A side is included and the chips are crunchy and speckled with black salt and truffle aioli for dipping. Wood-roasted mushroom sauce ($5) is lacklustre, runny and needing more intensity.

A hefty slow-cooked lamb shank ($28) arrives with sauteed spinach and red wine jus encased in a moat of smoked mash, big enough to feed a shearer after a solid session on the tools.

Heft serve: Lamb shank and mash at Fatcow.

The wines befit the locale, with a wide range of global choices, a reasonable by-the-glass list, as well as more than 150 whiskeys (there’s also an adjoining whiskey bar).

Service is smart, not particularly personal but swift and professional, with a maitre’d keeping a keen eye on proceedings.

Seafood focus: lobster and sides at Fatcow.

Dessert is basic with baked cheesecake, pavlova or a chocolate sphere on offer as well as the bombe Alaska ($18), which is passable rather than memorable.

Fatcow is not going to win any prizes for innovation in the kitchen but it’s getting its steak cooking spot on, which is hitting a major KPI.

However in tough times it also brings value, presumably from the economies of scale of having several restaurants in proximity, as well as a comfortable room and swift, professional service.